Competition highlights from the Canadian Pizza Show

Mississauga, Ont. – Our recent Canadian Pizza magazine Chef of the Year competition, held Oct. 17, gave operators and staff attending a chance to sample many one-of-a-kind, innovative pizzas.

The day saw a stellar field of pizzaiolos from across Canada put their considerable skills on display and their mouthwatering pizzas on the palates of attendees.

Highlights of the day – and there were many – included Tony Vacchio’s eye-catching, fennel-infused pizza, which sported six fennel-pollen-infused olive oil injectors into the outer crust.

Neapolitan chef Marco Zambri shared his story of growing up on a highly sustainable farm where pickling, preserving, butchering and curing were dearly held traditions. Zambri, who has carried on those practices at Slopes of Vesuvius Mobile Pizzeria in Uxbridge, Ont., presented a Margherita pizza showcasing guanciale, or cured pork cheek.

Sandra Poretta of Maurizio’s in Parry Sound had fun making and presenting a dessert pizza, Strawberry Breeze on Mt. Vesuvius, featuring bamboo charcoal powder and cranberry goat cheese.

Maurizio Mascioli, the company’s namesake, also got into the creative spirit with a savoury pie called The Ship Wreck. It featured basil pesto sauce with a crushed pine nut base, broken bacon and feta.

Giuseppe Cortinovis of Hawksworth Group’s Nightingale restaurant in Vancouver, presented a pizza with a long-fermented dough that combined poolish and a house-made one-year-old sourdough. A team effort, its toppings included house-made sausage and fennel salsa verde from his Nightingale colleagues.

First-time competitor Taylor Walsh of Amadio’s Pizza in Mississauga, Ont., took everyone on a journey to Buddhist enlightenment with her Bohdi Breakfast pizza featuring a sausage- and egg-stuffed crust, peameal bacon and aged cheddar.

Dean Litster of Armando’s in Windsor, offered up a colourful purple potato pie he called Pizza di patate viola.

There were many fine pizzas coming out of the ovens that day and we plan to share more techniques and trends from Canada’s top pizzaiolos over the coming year in Canadian Pizza magazine. See who competed this year (list below) and mark your calendars for next year’s show: Oct. 16, 2017, at the International Centre in Mississauga!

Our Chef of the Year competitors (see our December magazine for a chefs gallery)

Carlo Raillo (Canadian Pizza magazine Chef of the Year)
Buco Pizzeria + Vino, St. Albert, Alta.
Entry: Life Style

Rodolfo Santo (second place)
Mastro Roberto Trattoria & Pizzeria, Woodbridge, Ont.
Entry: La Pinsa Romana

Mateusz Rzeszutek (third place)
Queen Margherita Pizza, Toronto, Ont.
Entry: La Pizza di Grano Antico

David Jimenez-Sanchez (fourth place)
Queen Margherita Pizza, Toronto, Ont.
Entry: Pizza alla Basilicata

Daniel Alay (fifth place)
Milano’s Pizza, Etobicoke, Ont.
Entry: The Albanian

Giovanni Campisi (sixth place, tied)
Le Cascate Pizzeria & Caffe, Niagara Falls, Ont.
Entry: Pizza la Campagnola

Meghan O’Dea (sixth place, tied)
Pi Gourmet Eatery, St. John’s, N.L.
Entry: The Elvis Wedding

Richard Anger
Buoys Eatery, Gore Bay, Manitoulin Island, Ont.
Entry: Pesto Chicken Pizza

Jamie Broderick
BigBites Pizzeria, New Liskeard, Ont.
Entry: BB’s Deluxe

Chris Calabrese
N’Ata Cosa, St. Catharines, Ont.
Entry: Crema con Arancia

Khrystyna Collins
Applestone Pizzeria, Burlington, Ont.
Entry: Sweet Chili Thai Pizza

Giuseppe Cortinovis
Nightingale/Hawksworth Group, Vancouver, B.C.
Entry: The Cortinovis

Jose Delgado
Milano’s Pizza, Etobicoke, Ont.
Entry: The Big Greek

Hyunji Lee
BigBites Pizzeria, New Liskeard, Ont.
Entry: Unnamed (in search of a name!)

Joe Leroux
Amadio’s Pizza, Mississauga, Ont.
Entry: Caprese a l’Amadio

Dean Litster
Armando’s Pizza, Windsor, Ont.
Entry: Pizza di patate viola

Maurizio Mascioli
Maurizio’s, Parry Sound, Ont.
Entry: The Ship Wreck

Sandra Porretta
Maurizio’s, Parry Sound, Ont.
Entry: Strawberry Breeze on Mt. Vesuvius

Antonio Rupolo
Gusto Pizzaria, Brampton, Ont.
Entry: Gusto Special

Jason Seitanidis
Matador Pizza and Steakhouse, Calgary, Alta.
Entry: The Traditional Greek

Philip Seminerio
Amici’s Pizzeria, Grimsby, Ont.
Entry: Peachy Keen

Steve Silvestro
Scaddabush Italian Kitchen, Toronto, Ont.
Entry: Pizza e vino

John Summers
Roberto’s Pizza Passion, St. Catharines, Ont.
Entry: 50 Shades of Pizza

Tony Vacchio
Zolas Restaurant, Ottawa, Ont.
Entry: Fennel Fuel Injected Pizza

Roberto Vergalito
Roberto’s Pizza Passion, St. Catharines, Ont.
Entry: La Molisana

Taylor Walsh
Amadio’s Pizza, Mississauga, Ont.
Entry: The Bodhi Breakfast

Marco Zambri
Slopes of Vesuvius Mobile Pizzeria, Uxbridge, Ont.
Entry: Margherita with Guanciale

Canadian Pizza magazine’s Chef of the Year competition was sponsored by Saputo Foodservice, Moretti Forni, Escalon Premier Brands and Ardent Mills. Canadian Pizza Show sponsors were Saputo Foodservice, PizzaMaster distributed by Alfa Food Service and Stanislaus Food Products.